Expressions of Black and White
by eXSum
Summary: Kazuto ended up going to a school where everyone else was a girl, thanks to Kikuoka. Well, it can't be that bad. There's another boy here named Ichika Orimura. He'll make friends along the way, and maybe he'll even see familiar faces. These are the expressions of black and white. IchikaxHarem, KazutoxHarem.
1. What sort of situation is this?

Kazuto looked forward from where he was sitting. How did this end up happening? Why was he here? He should be in the rehabilitation school, not in this high tech place. He blamed Kikuoka for this. Maybe Kayaba had something to do with this? Probably not. He was probably still flying on the net.

Definitely Kikuoka's fault.

He was currently sitting in class, where the teacher was currently going over introductions. Well, trying to at least. Everyone was whispering, either about him, or about that other kid in front of the class.

Their teacher was a shorter lady with green hair, and eyes of the same color. She was gifted with rather large assets. She was trying to go through the names, she really was, but even she was distracted by the two boys in the class.

"Kirigaya-san, please introduce yourself."

Kazuto gave in to his fate. It seemed like there was no getting out of this.

"Hello, my name is Kirigaya Kazuto; I enjoy computer software engineering and video games. I was supposed to go to a certain school, but ended up going here due to certain events and some guy with hexagon glasses. I hope to have an excellent year with everyone."

Everyone looked towards the boy in confusion. What school was he supposed to go to? Who was this guy with hexagon glasses? They would find out by asking him later. If that didn't work out, there was always stalking him.

"Thank you Kirigaya-san, next is..." As his teacher went on, he looked out the window. There were currently 2 people staring/glaring intently at him, he didn't know why, but it felt like there was quite the amount of pressure on him. A girl in the front of his row, and another girl on the other side of the class. The girl on the other side of the class, Kashiwazaka Hiyori, he believed, was staring at him with realization. Realization for what exactly? He didn't know.

The other girl at the front looked familiar. However, her name wasn't called yet so he had no idea who she was. She went from glaring at him to glaring at the other boy multiple times. What was with her? Maybe he-

"Orimura-san! ORIMURA-SAN!"

"Yes! Orimura Ichika present!"

Everyone laughed or giggled at his quick reply. Kazuto didn't. He could understand the guy, if you were in this situation, you would have a lot to think about. You kind of missed your name getting called.

"Sorry for calling your name so loud! You weren't listening and I tried to get your attention. Are you angry with me? I'm very sorry!" At the teacher's apology and low bow, he figured he should've apologized for not paying attention. The collective glares from the girls didn't help. They all screamed 'Hey you insensitive bastard, you just made your teacher cry. Go apologize.'

"I'm sorry Yamada-sensei. It's not your fault, I wasn't paying attention. Please, there's no need to bow."

At his sincere apology, teacher stood up straight. "Ah, then please go on with your introduction."

He visibly tensed, and then swallowed his saliva. "Hello, my name is Orimura Ichika, I look forward to working with you all." There was a long silence. "That is all."

Most of the girls in the class face-palmed or fell out of their desks. Literally. Even Kazuto showed his disappointment. 'That was his reply? Even mine's better, and I'm the unsocial guy!'

Wham!

Ichika's face met with his desk. Kazuto looked at what hit him. A textbook? When did that get there? He followed the arm to see Chifuyu Orimura, the so called Brunhilde. When did she get there?

"Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika asked.

Bam!

It looked like Ichika's head could've made a crater with that last hit.

"Ah, Orimura-sensei, is that meeting over?" Maya asked.

Chifuyu replied, "Yes it is. Sorry for making you do the introductions. It must've been hard, especially with this idiot here."

Kazuto looked at the current scene going on in front of him. This seemed like a strange way to start the day.

"Alright, listen up! My name is Orimura Chifuyu, and I'll be teaching you this year. I expect all of you to understand what I'm teaching you, no exceptions. If you understand, nod your head. If you don't understand, nod your head."

Kazuto looked forward. What the hell? Was she a teacher or a drill sergeant!? What sort of school was this!?

"KYAAA! It's Chifuyu-sama! The real Chifuyu-sama!"

"I've always been your follower!"

"I came here from the south so I could study under you!"

"I'm so happy to be taught by you, Onee-sama!"

"Scold us more!"

"I would gladly die for Chifuyu-sama!"

Kazuto and Ichika, with his head still up against the desk, both had the same thoughts.

'Our class is full of M's.'

"I always end up with the idiots." Orimura-sensei complained. "Why are they always in my class?" She then turned to the boy with his face still in the desk. "And what about his idiot? Couldn't even do an introduction properly?"

"Wait, Chifu-"

Bam!

Kazuto wondered how many brain cells he lost. From the power of those strikes, probably a lot.

"That's Orimura-sensei to you."

"..Yes Orimura-sensei."

Student homeroom (SHR) came to an end.

* * *

><p>They both stayed in their respective desks. It seems like none of the girls had the courage to talk to either of them. It seemed like they would have troubles making friends.<p>

"Can we talk on the roof?" 2 different voices came out.

Kazuto looked towards the voice closest to him, and saw the girl that was staring at him. Her hair was long and was a light brown, and her eyes were brown.

"Uh, sure, Kashiwazaka-san."

It looked like Ichika was approached by the girl that was alternating her glares at them. Shinonono Houki, he believed her name was.

Both pairs walked onto the roof. Of course, they went to separate sides, not wanting to eavesdrop on the other's conversations.

Kazuto looked at the girl infront of him. She didn't look familiar to him, so why had she called him out? The girl opened her mouth.

"...Kirito-sama."

That put him on edge. He wasn't that well known in ALO so the odds of her knowing him from that game were low. He did win the GGO tournament a while back, so that could be it. However, he was very well known to the players in that death game. There were only 6000 survivors, so there's even less of a chance he was known that way.

"How do you know that name?" He asked. He was on guard.

"Every survivor knows the name of the person who cleared that game." She replied.

Of course the option with the lowest possibility wins. She is also, an SAO survivor.

"Man, to meet up with a survivor here. What odds. Anyways, why did you call me -sama?"

She blushed lightly and looked at his face. "I admired you for saving our lives. It should've taken most likely another year but you defeated him on the 75th floor."

Kirito looked at her and soaked in her reply. He then placed a small smile on his face. "There's no need to call me that. I'm no saviour. Anyways, let's go back to class."

He turned and walked towards the door. "Call me Kazuto too, Hiyori-san."

She caught up with him and gave him a smile. "Alright, Kazuto-kun."

That got intimate quickly.

He noticed Ichika and Houki walking back. Houki's face was red. Oho? Was there some confession that went on? She sent a glare at him however.

'Welp. I think she's mad about something. I wonder what it is.'

* * *

><p>"...Thus, the basic operations of IS have to be guided by the country. If no permission is granted, we have to pursue criminal responsibilities..."<p>

Class had begun, and Kazuto was paying attention, somewhat. He had read the textbook before he began school so he had already learned the first few lessons. In truth, he was only 40 pages into the book. Ichika on the other hand,

"Sensei?"

Maya stopped her lesson and looked at him. "Yes Orimura-kun?"

"I don't understand anything."

...?

"Eh? Ah, are you sure?" She looked confused. As did most of the other girls in the class.

"Yes." He replied to her with no hesitation. Normally, one would be filled with embarrassment in that situation, but Ichika seemed to have no shame.

"Is there anyone else who doesn't understand anything?

Nobody responded to her question.

"Orimura, you did read that handbook I gave you, didn't you?" It was then that he and Kazuto knew that expression. Ichika, growing up with Chifuyu knew that this was going to end painfully of he didn't answer this question right. Kazuto knew because of how scary the girls were back home.

"I mistook it for a phone book and threw it away?" He said with a hopeful smile.

"Didn't I put 'compulsory to read' on it?" She narrowed her eyes. One boy felt dread, and the other pity.

Wham!

"Oh, looks like that's another few hundred brain cells dead..." Kazuto muttered to himself.

It wasn't as quiet as he thought.

"Kirigaya! What was that?" She snapped. She was also in a position to throw the book at him. Sure, he had the fastest reaction time in all of the death game, but he didn't even think he would be able to react if she actually threw it instead of calling his name.

"Nothing ma'am!" How did she even hear him anyways!? Not even the girl in front of him heard anything!

Chifuyu narrowed her eyes, but let the matter drop. She then turned to her brother, head still on the desk. "I'll issue another one for you. I want it read within a week."

"Eh, that thickness is kind of..."

"I'm telling you to do it." There was no arguing with that tone of voice.

"..I'll do it."

Kazuto looked towards the front of the class. This was going to be a hard year.

"You... You were just thinking about how you don't want to be here didn't you?"

Ichika looked surprised. Judging from that look, he probably thought that Chifuyu read his mind.

Chifuyu then replied in a strict manner. "No matter whether you wished for it or not, people can't get away from an interactive life. If you want to abandon it, abandon your identity as a human first."

Kazuto stared at her. Did she know? He gave up his humanity and became the 'beater' so could take the blame away from the beta testers and avoid confrontation from everyone else. Granted, it didn't work that well, but still.

"Yamada-sensei. please take care of this idiot after school." Chifuyu told her assistant teacher.

"Ah? A-alright. Please leave it to me after school." She replied, but then she started mumbling other things. It was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Me and a student after school? Even if it's Orimura-kun, he's still a boy. I'll be weak if it turns out that way..."

"Ahem! Yamada-sensei. Continue with the lesson."

"O-of course!" She replied quickly, composing herself to the best. Her abilities.

* * *

><p>Later on, it was the break in between classes. Kazuto was on his phone, while Ichika was sitting in the front, head in his arms.<p>

"Could I have moment?"

"Huh?"

Ichika looked up to see a girl with curly blonde hair, and blue eyes. She had a frilly headband and was staring down at him.

"Is there something you wanted miss..."

"Wait a second! What are you saying? Just with me talking to you should be enough to make you feel greatly honored. Shouldn't you have a better attitude towards me?" She looked at him like he was an inferior life form. This monkey didn't know who she was? "Weren't you paying attention when the teacher called my name?"

"Um. No?"

Her eyebrow twitched. "I am Cecilia Alcott, the representative candidate of England and the person with the second highest score for the school's entrance exam?"

"Can I ask a question?" Not expecting that kind of reply, Cecilia almost face faulted. Almost.

"It's the job of a noble to answer a commoner's concerns."

"What's a representative candidate?"

Everyone fave faulted that. Well, almost everyone. Kazuto was in the back just looking with his eyebrow raised.

Cecilia decomposed herself. "The pilot of a country's IS is decided from the pool of representative candidates, which means the elites...you, should be able to understand what the words mean."

"Now that you mentioned it, that does ring a bell."

"You see? We're the elite of the elites."

She nodded to herself. "It's a miracle for you get into the same class with people like me... you should feel blessed. Do you realize the situation that you're currently in now?"

"Is that so? How fortunate for me."

"You...are you mocking me?"

Ichika looked at her. Wasn't she just telling him about how lucky he was to be in a class with her? Strange girl.

Kazuto just looked towards the scene. Rather strange. Hiyori came and leaned on his desk. "This class is interesting, isn't it Kazuto-kun?"

He gave her a small smile and nodded a bit. "Indeed it is."

They were brought out of their conversation by a blonde.

"In the first place, you knew nothing about IS's and yet you were able to make it into this school. When I first heard that you were the only male in the world who could pilot an IS, it had me expecting a lot more from you."

"Expecting a lot from me just leaves me in an uncomfortable position."

"Hmph. Because I'm an elite, I'll even be nice to people like you."

Kazuto looked at her. 'That arrogance, she'd fit perfectly with the DDA'

"If you don't fully understand anything regarding IS. Hm... if you cry and beg me, I might be nice enough to teach you. After all, I'm an elite amongst elites, the 'only' one who defeated an instructor during the entrance exam."

'She was a perfect match for the DDA. No doubt about it. Wait, why did she put so much emphasis on 'only'?' Kazuto thought.

It seemed like Ichika also picked up on the emphasis. "Do you mean during the entrance exams?"

"Of course! What other exams were there?"

"Well I defeated an instructor also. Though defeated may be over exaggerating. I just dodged her and she flew into a wall. Kirigaya-san also took one out from what I've heard."

She looked at him, and then at Kazuto. It was mostly a look of shock. "Then I'm not the only one? Why didn't anyone inform me?"

Kazuto gave her a simple reply. "Maybe because we're not girls? I figured that they would keep that confidential."

She turned back to Ichika. "You said that you both defeated an instructor correct? Why would you know about Kirigaya-san defeating one?"

Ichika rubbed the back of his head. "Chif- Orimura-sensei told me."

Cecilia looked content with that answer. She then turned to Kazuto. "You! What score did you get on the entrance exams?"

Kazuto was bothered by all the attention being directed at him. Why couldn't it go back to Ichika? "Ah, 98%?"

"WHAT!?" Was most of the girl's reply. Even Hiyori looked at him in shock. "You were the one to beat me!? But, but.."

Kazuto waved his hands. "Hey, uh, just calm down alrigh-"

"How can I be calm in a time like this!?"

The sound of the bell interrupted the current conversation. 'Literally saved by the bell.' Both boys thought.

"I'll be back! Don't run away!" She then went to her desk, which was a couple seats infront of Kazuto's. The question was, where could they go even if they did run?

* * *

><p>"Before we start the lesson, we need to choose a class representative." Orimura-sensei replaced Yamada-sensei, as she was currently sitting to the side. "Any suggestions?"<p>

One girl raised her hand. "I nominate Orimura-san!"

Ichika adopted an approving look. 'They nominated Chifuyu-nee? I'm actually alright with that. It's weird though, having your teacher be the class rep.'

Kazuto also had an approving look. 'Well, as long as the attention isn't on me.'

"Alright. Our first candidate is Orimura Ichika!"

'Yes, yes. Orimura Ichika would make a great candid- WAIT, I'M ORIMURA ICHIKA!' He quickly sat up in his seat. "I thought they were recommending you!"

Chifuyu just looked down at her brother. "Sit down." He complied. "I can't be nominated. I'm a teacher."

"Can I opt out?"

"No."

"This is tyranny."

"You are an idiot."

Another girl raised her hand. "I nominate Kirigaya-kun!"

"What! Why!?" Said boy spouted.

Hiyori looked at him, "Well, you're the only other boy in our class right? You need some responsibilities too, Kazuto-kun!"

He gave Hiyori the stink eye. He really didn't want any attention right now.

Chifuyu's voice rang out through the classroom. "Our candidates are Ichika Orimura and Kazuto Kirigaya."

A slapping sound could be heard from the left side of the room. It seemed Cecilia was angry. It also seemed like that slapping sound was her hands on her desk. "This kind of election outcome is totally unacceptable! Anyway, having a man as our class representative is totally disgraceful! Do you expect me, Cecilia Alcott to endure this embarrassment for an entire year?"

Yes, good. Give the class reasons to- wait. What about embarrassment?

"In terms of ability, it's obvious that I should be the class representative. It'll be troubling if some rare far-east monkeys are chosen because they're rare breeds! I came to this island country to polish up my IS skills, and I have no interest in joining a circus!"

Oho? So both of the boys were suddenly circus attractions and not human? Kazuto could somewhat understand being not human. He was a faery at one point in his life.

It seemed like Cecilia was getting riled up. She was really into her speech.

"Isn't that right!? Only the most talented can be the class representative, and I'm the most suitable one! And besides, living in such a country with an underdeveloped level of culture is excruciatingly painful for me—"

"Even if Britain's a powerful country, you're far too arrogant on your part, right? How many years has it been now that you've won the world's worst cuisine award?" It was Ichika that interrupted her speech. Standing up and a hand in his blazer's pocket, it was a stance of arrogance and provoking.

Pew pew! Shots fired! All men prepare for the counterattack!

"Are you insulting my country!?"

Enemy counterattack was weak! Prepare to attack again!

"You've just insulted over half of our school. Where are you right now? Japan, the place where the IS was originally created, the place with the IS school, and the place leading in technology. 'Underdeveloped country' you say? What's England so good for besides terrible food and arrogant nobles?" Kazuto knew he shouldn't have done this, but he did it anyways. Maybe it was to back up his fellow countryman. What's been said has been set in stone. Really, from what Hiyori was doing. Her pen was moving at an incredible speed.

Cecilia was just standing there with her mouth agape. Second attack successful! Enemy ship has sunken!

"IT'S A DUEL!"

Lifeboats on the horizon! They're still alive captain!

"That's fine with me. I'm not good at debating anyways." Ichika said. He was determined.

Kazuto was also ready. "First blood or total loss?" Everyone looked confused at his question. Everyone except for one person.

"Kirito-sama!" Hiyori shouted out. Everyone turned their attention to her. Who was this Kirito person? Why did she hold him in such high regards?

"Sorry, don't mind what I said." Kazuto said. He realized his mistake, or more like he was reminded of it.

"Whatever. One I defeat the both of you; you will both be my servants. No, you'll be my slaves!"

"I approve." Everyone looked towards Chifuyu. "This will settle this dispute and the winner will be the class representative."

"How much of a handicap so you want?" It was Ichika that asked this.

"Oh? Does the monkey want an easier challenge?"

"No, I'm asking how much of a handicap I should give you."

After that question was asked, the class erupted with laughter.

"O-Orimura-kun, are you serious?"

"Isn't a man being stronger than woman a story of the past?"

"Orimura-kun. Maybe you can pilot an IS, but that's just overdoing it."

Only 5 people weren't laughing. Ichika, Kazuto, Hiyori, and the 2 teachers in the room.

Men were considered weaker since they couldn't pilot the IS. So during this time, women grew in power, while men grew weaker and less significant.

Ichika then closed his eyes. "...Then I won't give you a handicap."

"I didn't expect you to. More accurately, it bothers me that I don't have to give you a handicap. Saying that men are stronger than women, you're a funny monkey."

Kazuto stayed silent, contemplating on one phrase.

'A single blade will take you wherever you want to go.'

He was interrupted from his thoughts when someone called to Ichika.

"Hey, Orimura-kun, it's not too late, you know? You can still get Cecilia-san to give you a handicap?"

The girl sitting diagonally behind him sincerely advised. However, the complicated expression of hers—the laughter and smirk that she was holding back somewhat angered the 2 boys.

"A man would never go back on his word. I have no need of a handicap."

Chifuyu clapped her hands.

"The duel will take place next Monday. It will be a 3 way duel. Make sure you're prepared for it."

With that, class started, 10 minutes late.

* * *

><p>"Guh, why is this so hard?" Ichika muttered to himself. Maya heard it, and giggled.<p>

Currently, he was sitting in his desk, trying to figure out the gibberish that was called IS-theory.

Maya suddenly had a look of realization. "Orimura-kun, before I forget, your dorm is ready for you."

"Really? The government told me that it would take more time to get it prepared." He replied to her.

"Well, due to Kirigaya-kun coming here, the government decided that you'd be sharing a room with him. It's room 1025 by the way."

"Ah, then can I leave sensei? I need to go get my luggage and-"

"The boxes are currently in your room." This voice came from the door. It was his sister leaning on it and trying to act cool. It was kind of working. If she didn't look so scary.

"Hey, you and the author just thought of something rude didn't you?"

"Of course n- wait, me and who?"

"Never mind. Just go unpack the boxes in your room. Kirigaya already knows."

Ichika packed up his things and left, not before thanking both Maya and his sister.

Maya called after him. "Dinner is at 6 until 7! And you'll have to use the bath in your room!"

Ichika gave a thanks and turned the corner, looking for the room.

* * *

><p>"...what?"<p>

When Ichika turned the corner, he didn't expect to see the scene that was happening right outside of his door. There were a few girls with cups pressed against the door, and their ears on said cups. It seemed like they started early on the 'stalking' business.

He attempted to get their attention by coughing.

"Eep!"

It worked.

"Ah, what are you all doing?" He asked.

The girls attempted to hide the cups behind their backs. "N-nothing! Don't worry about it Orimura-kun!"

'Sure. I definitely won't worry about being spied on for the rest of the year. Might as well put hidden cameras in our room.'

"Well excuse me then. I need to unpack my luggage."

He pushed through the girls and opened the door and walked in, and immediately closed it right afterwards. He could see that the girls were trying to get a view of his room before they door closed. Wait, how did they even know this was his room?

"Is that you Orimura-san?" Came a masculine voice. Right, he was sharing with the only other boy in the school.

"Hello Kirigaya-san." He saw Kazuto on his bed, reading through the IS textbook. He was currently dressed in a black shirt and black shorts.

"Call me Kazuto."

"Sure. Call me Ichika then." He then went to unpack all the boxes on his bed. He decided to make small talk as he worked. "Did you see all the girls outside our room?"

"Hm? There are people outside?"

"It's better if you don't think about it. Really, trust me on this."

"Well there were cameras in the room."

Ichika paused at this. There actually were cameras in here!? "Where are they?"

Kazuto pointed to his desk. There laid the cameras, dismantled. "It seems like everyone wants to know exactly what goes on in our lives."

"I don't like anyone spying on papa!"

Ichika heard a voice. Although it couldn't have been older than 10 years old.

"Kazuto-san, what..?"

Kazuto picked up his phone and showed Ichika. There stood a tiny girl in a pink dress with wings, flying through a room. "This is Yui, she's my daughter."

"What?"

"Let me rephrase that. She's my daughter, but she's an AI. She's unlike normal AI; she has emotion and can think by herself."

"Nice to meet you, Ichika-san!" She greeted.

Ichika was still confused, but decided to go along with it. "Likewise, Yui-chan."

"Anyways," Kazuto spoke out, "what time is it?"

"It's almost 6:00, Kazuto-san."

"It's dinner time, huh? Welp, time to sneak into the cafeteria without getting caught by any of the girls." He let out a sigh; this wasn't going to be easy. "Yui, I'm ending the call now. Why don't you wait for everyone else to come over?"

The pixie looked a bit sad, but understood. She hacked into the school's database without her father knowing, and found out about his situation. "Alright papa! Have a nice evening!"

The call ended and Kazuto asked Ichika if he wanted to come.

"Well, I guess its fine. I'd rather cook, but there aren't any ingredients."

Kazuto gave him a look. "You could probably get some fresh ingredients from the mall. I'd like to try your cooking. See how it compares to Asuna's."

Ichika tilted his head. "Who's Asuna?"

"Yui's mama, and my lover back home." 'Or rather, one of them.' He didn't add that in however.

They both headed into the cafeteria, after locking their door. Having someone rummage through your things wasn't an ideal scenario. When they got there, everyone was busy eating and chatting with each other. Well, until someone decided to yell out.

"Kazuto-kun!"

He visually flinched. 'Damnit Hiyori! I was trying to be sneaky!'

Everyone stopped their chatting and looked at them. Both boys looked at each other and resigned themselves to fate. There goes their stealth attempt.

Many girls whispered among themselves. The atmosphere suddenly became extremely awkward.

The whispers weren't as quiet as they were supposed to be.

"It's Kirigaya-kun and Orimura-kun!"

"They came here together!"

"Is it BL!?"

Ichika looked blankly while Kazuto deadpanned. These girls had quite the imagination. They lined up to grab their food.

A pair of girls approached them. It was Hiyori and Houki.

"Ichika!"

"Hello Kazuto-kun."

They greeted out.

"Hello Houki."

"Hiyori, not the best time to tell out my name."

Hiyori laughed nervously. "Haha, why don't we sit together?"

Cries of 'not fair!' and 'she's already making a move!' could be heard, but nobody paid attention to it.

"Sure."

As they sat down, they started a small conversation. Everyone else was eavesdropping. They were trying their best not to look like they were, but it seemed like they needed more practice.

Houki was still sending him a glare.

"Ah, Shinonono-san, why do you look so angry at me?" Kazuto asked.

"She's got that natural scary face." Hiyori teased.

Houki flushed at being teased at in front of Ichika, but regained her composure.

"You, where were you for the last 2 years?" She asked, completely serious.

Kazuto was confused. Who was this girl again? "Huh?"

"You beat me twice in a row at provincials the past 4 years, and then won nationals twice. Yet, during the past 2 years I never saw you, in the Nationals nor provincials." Her gaze hardened.

Ah, so she was a kendo practitioner.

"...something happened."

"Are you taking me for a fool? Do you think I'll accept an answer like that? Come with me to the dojo. I want to see your skills. Ichika, you come too. You probably need IS training. I'll help you, but I want to see how much you've improved."

Everyone was dead silent. "...Fine."

* * *

><p>It was late, so the dojo was lit by the lights installed in the ceiling.<p>

It was honestly filled. There were students forced to stand because the bleachers were filled. At the centre, stood 2 individuals in kendo gear.

"Rules?" A masculine voice called out.

"Informal. First to yield or get knocked out of the ring."

Ichika was the judge of this match. With his hand raised up, both combatants got into a ready position.

Houki was in a standard starting position, both hands on her shinai.

Kazuto's stance was loose. His left side was too open. Houki saw this, and decided to take advantage of his mistake.

The referee brought his hand down. "Begin!"

Houki rushed forward, aiming to beat him with one strike. Her sword was over her head, beginning its speedy descent.

A loud "clack" was heard, as her shinai met his.

"Just because I haven't done kendo in the past 2 years doesn't mean I'm rusty with a sword." True, he hadn't trained in kendo for the past 2 years. He was training with a sword in a life-or-death situation.

"We'll see."

The crowd cheered, as swords were striking each other. It was a never ending push and pull, as neither combatant was giving up.

"Ha!"

"Guh!"

Kazuto's fist made contact with Houki's throat, pushing her back a couple steps. She wobbled a bit before she regained her posture.

"You can't do tha-"

"Ichika." Kazuto said out, interrupting his opponent.

"Yes?"

"Throw me another shinai."

"..Are you sure? Houki's strong, she's practiced for years. A second shinai will only make you lose your balance."

"Trust me on this."

"..As you say."

A shinai spun through the air, and Kazuto caught it with his left hand.

Everyone was silent as got into position. He was more balanced, much to Ichika's suprise, and his stance was loose, but ready to act at a moment's notice.

Houki tensed. So he was experienced in Nito Ryu, the art of dual wielding. He never showed this during his tournaments though. His second sword was also too long, since most people who dual wielded used one shorter sword.

Hiyori looked at him. She imagined his cloak, and his black and turquoise swords, everything that had given him the moniker of 'The Black Swordsman.'

Kazuto took a step forward, both shinai racing towards Houki. His attacks were relentless, forcing her to go on the defensive while he continued on the offensive.

She couldn't survive this onslaught. His swords were moving too fast. Every time should would attempt to go on the offensive; she would be forced to return to the defensive because of the speed of his swords. She attempted to block his strike from the left side. She was successful, but she wasn't prepared for the strike from above.

A "thunk" rang throughout the dojo.

"Men."

"I... I yield."

Cheers erupted throughout the dojo at the display at an excellent match.

Kazuto looked towards her. She looked shocked. "Are you alright Shinonono-san?"

"How are you so strong? You disappeared for 2 years, how did you get stronger?"

Hearing her tone, Kazuto said something before leaving. "Come to our room after dinner. You too Hiyori. We'll explain it to her and Ichika."

Houki looked up and saw his retreating form. He spun his swords and attempted to sheathe them. On his back. She looked at his strange gesture.

"Oh, that's right." He muttered in embarrassment. He placed both shinai back where they belonged and went to go change.

* * *

><p>Ichika and Kazuto were in their room studying. Well, Kazuto was studying. Ichika was trying to make heads and tails of all this terminology.<p>

A knock interrupted them. They both knew who was at the door. Kazuto opened the door and invited both of them in.

"Take a seat with Ichika, Shinonono-san." He said, while Hiyori took a seat beside him.

He looked up at the ceiling. "Where to begin..." He pondered. "Well, I guess I'll start at the beginning. My official disappearance was on November 6th, 2 years ago. The day the VRMMORPG Sword Art Online came out." Both Ichika and Houki let out a gasp of surprise. He was a survivor?

"I won't tell you everything that happened in my life, but I'll tell you things I guess would be significant." He didn't wait for them to nod, he just continued.

"On that day, Kayaba Akihiko trapped 10,000 lives in a floating castle. In that world, I survived and met many kinds of people. Some people lived, while others died. It was honestly the toughest moment of our lives."

Ichika didn't miss it. "Kazuto-san, you said 'our'. Is she..?"

"Yes, Hiyori here is also a survivor." They both had bitter looks on their faces. "During my time there, I became the beater. The person who took everyone's focus so none of the beta testers would get hated on. I became a clearer, one of the people on the front lines. In the end, on the 75th floor, I killed Kayaba, who was among us as a player, named Heathcliff. The game ended early."

Ichika and Houki looked at him. So not just any player, but the saviour of the death game himself was among them. Next question, who was Hiyori?

Said girl noticed the two looks pointed towards her. "I originally went in to have fun, but when it was announced that I was in a death game, I got scared. I eventually started to play, gaining levels at a slow rate. I didn't trust anyone however, not until I met one friend. She was the closest friend I had in there."

Kazuto looked at her. "..had?"

She got a solemn look on her face. "She died shielding me from a lethal attack. After she died, I went back to how I was. Not trusting anyone. After the game was cleared, I looked up to Kazuto-kun. All the survivors know him as KIrito-sama,The Black Swordsman, and the one who freed us from the game. I eventually got into ALO once new Aincrad was implemented. In that game, my initial look greatly resembled his. Even a few people mistook me as him."

Kazuto raised an eyebrow. "Really? Who?"

"Leafa, Scilica and Lisbeth."

Kazuto's eyebrow twitched. "You met them huh? What strange odds."

"Do you know them?" Ichika asked.

"Well, Leafa is my sister, Silica was a girl I saved, and Lisbeth was my 'personal blacksmith'. Funny how they never told me about meeting Hiyori. By the way, what was your name?"

"Lux was my SAO name, and later on Kuro was my ALO name."

"Well, you've heard our stories. Anything else you want to know?"

Houki, who was silent for the most of it, voiced a question. "How did you ah, kill Heathcliff?"

Kazuto's expression darkened slightly before he took a deep breath. "It was a duel on the 75th floor. No, calling it a duel would be wrong. It was a death match." Everyone gasped. "He was supposed to be the final boss, but I revealed him to be Kayaba and he 'rewarded' me with a chance to duel him 1 on 1, to the death."

All of the other occupants in the room listened intently.

"I accepted. Even when Asuna told me not to go, even when all my friends tried to stop me. I didn't listen. I guess it was a spur of the moment."

Houki voiced another question she had. "Who's Asuna?"

Ichika answered her. "His lover."

"During the death match, it was hard. I knew I couldn't use any sword skills since he developed them. He knew every counter, so I had to reply on my own skills. Somehow, I accidentally used my strongest skill, a 27-hit combo. On the last hit, the sword that Lisbeth forged for me broke. It was there that I knew that I lost. After my skill had ended, he raised his sword, and swung it towards me. It didn't hit me. It hit Asuna instead." There was a louder gasp coming from both girls. "She died for me. She then broke into particles before my eyes, and I tried to grab onto them. It was a futile attempt. I picked up her sword and slowly began to walk towards Kayaba. He batted my sword away. He then stabbed me. I lost all of my HP."

Ichika then asked in a soft tone. "But if that happens, you die right?"

"There's a 10 second delay before you really die. During that time, I just thought, 'Is this how it ends? Is everyone else going to have to keep fighting?' I decided that I won't go down alone. I had already lost so much, and I didn't want anyone else to die, so I would take him down with me. I stabbed him with Asuna's rapier, much to his surprise. Everyone else in the room was surprised too. After his HP hit 0, I looked at Asuna's rapier and asked, 'Is this enough?' It even gave me a glint in approval, like she was happy. It was then when I bursted into polygons, like she did before me."

Everyone had a solemn look on their face. Even Hiyori, since she didn't know exactly what happened. "So..what happened after?"

"I ended up in the sky with Asuna. We were on a flat plain, watching as the floating castle crumbled. Kayaba was there too. We had a conversation on why he did it. He just replied 'I forgot.' It was a stupid reason, but there was no pondering on it as he congratulated me on beating the game, and then vanished. Later on, I woke up. Not in the game, but in real life."

"What happened to Asuna?" Ichika asked.

"Well, that's a story for another time." Kazuto replied.

Everyone understood. It probably took a lot out of him to tell them about his times in SAO, and after that, something forced him to take action and save his lover.

"Well, I think it's about time you girls left. It's getting late anyways and I don't want Orimura-sensei misunderstanding anything." He said.

Both girls complied and got ready to leave the room. They both told the boys that they would help with any IS related issues before they headed towards their own rooms.

"Welp, we've got a duel with a representative candidate in a week, so let's get prepared, starting tomorrow."

"R-right."

Both boys got into their beds, and prepared to go to sleep.

"Good night, Kazuto-san."

"Good night, Ichika."

This was most definitely going to be an interesting year.

* * *

><p>In a lab far, far away, sat a girl in a blue dress. She had purple hair, eyes, and a pair of bunny ears on her head.. She was currently watching the conversation going on in a certain Orimura's room.<p>

"It looks Ikkun's found a friend~! And he's the one who beat Kay-chan! I think I'll call him Ka-kun~! It's time that I, super-genius Tabane Shinonono, give Ik-kun and Ka-kun their own personal IS's!

I already have Ik-Kun's IS ready, but what should I do for Ka-kun's?

Aha! Time to hack the government and get all the information about Kay-chan's game~! I'm sure he won't mind. It's not like he can trace it back to me anyways, he's busy flying over the net~!"

One would not expect this sort of personality from the genius that created the IS. Then again, not all geniuses are normal people. With her playing around, the world was truly in trouble.

* * *

><p><strong><span>AN**

First chapter is done. At roughly 6.7k words before the author's note, I'm tired.

For any of you wondering, I'm not abandoning The Swordsman and The Archer. I just had an idea like this and wrote it down, to see how much people enjoy it. Well, I sort of enjoyed writing it. I'm still thinking of pairings, so if anyone wants this to continue, please review and give your suggestions.

Hiyori or Lux, is not an OC. She's a canon character that appeared during a manga adaption called Girl's Op. In that adaption, she [INSERT SPOILER HERE], and that's how it happened. I actually had this idea in my head for a good few months, but didn't really attempt anything until the start of last week. Oh well, I at least did something, right? That has to count for something.

Anyways, thank you for reading this author's rambles. Please leave a review on your way out.

Edit 21/10/14: Fixed minor spelling/grammar mistakes.


	2. Reunions and Introductions

One week had passed, so it was Monday once again. All 3 candidates were preparing for their free for all match, but it seemed like one boy was having troubles.

"Houki."

"Yes, Ichika?"

"You said you were going to help me prepare for my match right?"

"Yes, and I did."

"You've only trained me in IS usage for one day. The rest of those days were kendo training."

"..."

"Houki. Don't. Try. To. Look. Somewhere. Else. "

"..."

Ichika flailed his arms in surrender. "I'm totally going to die. Apart from a representative candidate student that's had at least 10 times more training than me; I have to go against a 2-time national kendo champion."

"It can't be helped. You don't have an IS." Houki said, giving a huff and crossing and crossing her arms over her chest.

"We could've borrowed an IS from the school."

"..."

"Lord have mercy on this poor fool." Ichika said to himself. Kazuto probably had IS training every day from Hiyori, so he was most likely prepared for the upcoming battle. "Well, I guess I should go grab one of the school's IS's."

Ichika reluctantly walked towards the storage where they were all kept. He heard footsteps and saw Maya running towards him with her...assets bouncing.

"Orimura-kun, Orimura-kun!"

"Yamada-sensei, please calm down. Take a deep breath in, and then let it out. In, out, in out, stop!" At his last word, she really did stop. Even her face started turning red...

"Puah! Was...that...long...enough?" She said as she was inhaling in between words.

'I don't think she can take a joke..' Ichika thought.

Wham!

"Respect your elders, idiot!" Chifuyu scolded, as she forced another few hundred brain cells to die.

"I'm sorry Chifuyu-nee..."

Bam!

"It's Orimura-sensei."

"Yes, Orimura-sensei."

Looking at Ichika getting hit so much; one would think he would have develop the survival instincts or reflexes to dodge a hit like that. One would be wrong if they did think like that.

"Remember it, or die."

"Yes, Chi-" A textbook was raised in preparation. "Orimura-sensei!" It was lowered.

Maya, after finally catching her breath, spoke up. "Orimura-kun! Your IS is here!"

"Eh? I thought I had to use one of the school's."

"The government commissioned one for you and Kirigaya-kun last week. Never mind that, please hurry! You only get a limited time for this duel!"

"R-right."

As he headed towards the cargo bay, he saw Kazuto in front of the door.

"Kazuto-san."

"Oh, hello Ichika, are you here for your IS too?"

"Yes. How did you know about the personal IS's?" Ichika asked.

"Yamada-sensei told me earlier. Then she ran off to tell you." So that's why she was running so much. The area around the arena is rather large.

"So, are you ready for the duel?" Ichika asked as they both opened the door.

"Sadly, I'm not. I was supposed to practice, but I ended up just studying more of the textbook while Hiyori was flirting with me." Kazuto replied in an exasperated tone.

As the door finally opened, they were greeted with 2 IS's. One was white, but that was it. It didn't look like there were any decorations or other colours were on it. The other was black, and it was smaller than the white one. Other than the random silver lines, it looked very plain. Both were kneeling, looking like Knights before their king.

"The white one is yours, Ichika. The black one is Kirigaya's." Chifuyu's voice came from the doorway, as she leaned on the doorframe. Again, if she got rid of that scary expression, she might be considered cool...

Wham! Bam!

"Stop thinking rude things. I'll get that stupid guy later."

Ichika and Kazuto were gripping their heads. They would have questioned what she meant by 'that stupid guy' but they were in too much pain.

Maya came in and saw both boys clutching their heads. She sent a questioning look at Chifuyu, but was given a 'don't-worry-about-these-idiots' look.

"A-anyways, Orimura-kun's IS is called Byakushiki, and Kirigaya-kun's is called Kuroshiki."

Both boys looked at their respective IS's. White Expression and Black Expression. What strange names.

"Why are you 2 just staring at your IS's? Go mount them!" Chifuyu told/threatened them as she had her textbook in her hand.

Both boys rushed towards their IS's, not wanting to get hit by the textbook of death.

"Lean on your back. Yes, like that. You'll feel like you're sitting down. Next, the system will optimize itself."

Ichika's IS closed around him as it let out a hiss of air. Within it, he could see information on Cecilia and Kazuto's IS. Cecilia's was called Blue Tears, and it had multiple guns that could detach from the main body and fire separately. 4 to be exact. It seemed familiar, he thought he remembered watching an anime with giant robots that also had something like that. What was it again? Something Seed?

Kazuto's IS was significantly smaller than Ichika's. No, smaller isn't the right word. It was more thin, and covered most of his body unlike other IS's. It was almost like a coat. A really thick and bulky coat, but a coat nonetheless. It even had strange wings that looked similar to Ichika's.

"Go get ready to launch." Chifuyu ordered. Both boys obeyed immediately, not wanting to know how well their IS's would be able to block the textbook of death.

Both boys went to their separate launch pads and flew off, meeting Cecilia in the sky.

"You 2. Come out."

"Eek!"

"Gah!"

Hiyori and Houki came out from behind the doorway.

"Let's go to the observation room." She ordered. It seemed like they wouldn't get hit by the textbook.

Houki was thinking about how Ichika looked like a knight, while Hiyori thought he looked somewhat familiar to his SAO avatar, even if it looked really bulky.

* * *

><p>"Oho? I commend both of you monkeys for not running away." Cecilia taunted, as she was hovering above both of them.<p>

"I would never run from a duel."

"My pride as a man refuses to run away."

Kazuto and Ichika replied respectively.

"How much time have you spent in an IS?" The blonde asked.

"4 hours." Ichika said, glad that he had that last day to practice using one.

"20 minutes." Ichika looked towards Kazuto in shock. That's it?

Cecilia was trying to suppress her laugh. From the look on her face, it wasn't working.

"You hope to defeat me when you've only had 20 minutes inside an IS? You're definitely the more entertaining monkey." She mocked. "But I, as a noble will allow you to surrender than face the embarrassment of having your pride crushed. Go on, ask for my forgiveness and I'll let you walk away."

The area around them was silent. Cecilia didn't hear them say anything. What? Weren't they paying attention to her speech? She looked down and-

Ichika looked bored with half-lidded eyes while Kazuto was hovering with his body slumped forward. Was he alright...?

"Zzzzz..."

They were both ignoring her! One of them was even sleeping! She readied her rifle and aimed it at the sleeping boy. Ichika saw her sudden action and immediately focused.

"Even if you warn him, he'll be toast! Almost no one can react to the speed of one of my Blue Tear's lasers!" She fired, and a beam came towards Kazuto.

Ichika tried warning him anyways. "Kazuto-san!"

A cloud of dust appeared where Kazuto was, completely blocking out everyone's view.

"Ohohoho! Down with one hit! You were rather weak for all the smack talking you were doing!" She turned towards Ichika. "Next in line-"

"Who said I was down?"

Everyone looked at the cloud. It was still rather thick, but the wind from the arena was moving the cloud somewhere else. When the dust cloud disappeared, there was Kazuto, looking perfectly fine, but holding a simple black sword in his hand. Behind him, were 2 burn marks on the ground.

"Impossible! Nobody can cut bullets, let alone laser beams!" Ichika yelled, completely surprised at how undamaged he was.

"Don't think it's impossible until you try it." Kazuto replied calmly. He then stretched his body. "Pretending to be asleep, falling for such a trick, how gullible are you, Alcott-san?"

"You dare mock me-!?"

"Not really mocking you per se, just pointing out flaws."

Cecilia didn't take kindly to his last comment, and sent out her drones to shoot at both boys. The drones never stopped firing, even for a second. It seemed Cecilia was rather…angered.

"Gah! Kazuto-san, I think you made her angry!" Ichika yelled as he dodged multiple laser aimed for his body.

"Hmm, you think so? This isn't really that scary." He replied, deflecting lasers with his one black sword. He then swung his hand out, fingers uncurled as if he wanted to materialize something. As his arm extended, a turquoise sword materialized.

Ichika looked at him. Duel wielding already, where was his weapon? Was he supposed to fight with his fists or something!?

"Are you seriously trying to fight me with short ranged weapons!? Know your place!"

There was a sound as a weapon materialized. Both Kazuto and Cecilia looked towards Ichika. He too had a sword, although it was a plain grey. The sword in Ichika was holding was just a bit longer than 1.5 meters, but was easily longer than both of Kazuto's.

Cecilia's eyebrows twitched. "You 2 monkeys...really, no more mercy!"

Cecilia's drones began firing multiple beams at one, topping off at 4 beams per drone. They were both struggling, as the beams would fire and then retreat, leaving them out of slashing distance.

While Ichika was dodging, he noticed Cecilia didn't fire her main rifle once. 'That's it! She can't multitask like that!'

It seemed Kirito realized the same thing, as they both rushed forward. Cecilia saw this and ordered her drones to fire from their position.

Which was right in between her and the duo. "Ah!" Behind the charging duo, explosions rang out as Cecilia's drone were taken out. The boys never stopped their assault.

* * *

><p>Inside the observation room, Maya, Chifuyu, Houki and Hiyori were watching the match.<p>

"Wow, both boys are doing very well for their first official match!" Maya was very impressed with how both boys weren't already down for the count.

"That Idiot's getting overconfident." Chifuyu said, eyes on the screen.

"How do you know, Orimura-sensei?" Houki asked.

"You never noticed Shinonono? Whenever he gets overconfident, he clenches his hand."

Houki gave a cough, and muttered out, "He never gets overconfident when we spar in kendo."

Hiyori piped in with her cheery voice. "That's because you never let him win, Houki-chan!"

"..."

Maya turned to Chifuyu as the younger girls were having a conversation. "Still, to notice something like that, you 2 really are brother and sister."

Chifuyu didn't expect her to say that and seemed rather uncomfortable. "Well, I am his sister..."

Maya had a grin. "Are you embarrassed? The one and only Chifuyu Orimura is embarrassed?"

Chifuyu's embarrassment immediately stopped, being replaced with an ominous and dark aura. It even stopped the 2 students in the room.

"OW OW OW OW. IM SORRY, PLEASE LET ME GO!" Maya squealed as she was put into a very painful headlock.

"PLEASE! IT FEELS LIKE MY HEAD IS GOING TO FALL OFF!"

* * *

><p>They were almost there. Both boys were about 20 meters away from taking out Cecilia, then they could worry about how to deal with the other. As they got within 5 meters, she adopted a grin on her face. They both hesitated for a split second.<p>

It was a mistake to do so.

"Sorry, but Blue Tears has six armaments."

Her skirt armour separated, revealing 2 missile launchers. From the looks of them, they were heat seeking missiles.

Both boys attempted to retreat away from each other, worried about getting caught in the blast radius. There was no point, as both missiles chased after each boy, faster than they could retreat.

Two smoke clouds appeared in the air where the boys once were.

"Hmph. That was easy." Cecilia boasted, even though she lost almost half of her armaments. She turned around, intending to leave the arena.

2 columns of wind appeared behind her, showing both boys relatively safe, in their machines, both being somewhat different from what they were like before.

Ichika's IS was bulkier, and had tints of blue on the sleek white armour. His wings were more open, spanning outwards like an angel's. In his hand, the original 1.5 meter sword activated. It opened up, and a light blue beam shot out. The sword's name was Yukihira Nigata.

Kazuto's IS also changed. It now covered his torso and a bit of his upper legs, still retaining it's 'cloak' look. The wings changed, being somewhat translucent and spanning outwards, but there were only 4, unlike the many that Ichika had. In his right hand was a black sword, with a strange guard and hilt with a cross near the top of the blade. In his left hand was a beautiful turquoise blade, having a detailed guard and hilt. The Elucidator and Dark Repulser, 2 of the swords that once belonged to Kirito, the Black Swordsman of SAO.

"This brings me back." Kazuto whispered to himself. He got into a ready stance, prepared to charge at Cecilia.

* * *

><p>Up in the observation room, Houki and Maya were focusing intently on Ichika's IS. Chifuyu was silent in her observation.<p>

Hiyori was staring at the blades in Kazuto's hands. "Those swords... But nobody should know about them aside from the survivors or government..."

Houki looked towards her friend in concern. "Hiyori-san?"

"Those are the blades he used in 'that game'. Unless it was someone from the branch of the government that's involved in virtual affairs, they shouldn't exist here."

Chifuyu continued looking at the battle, but listened in on their conversation. It seems some rabbit-eared genius had something to do with this.

Somewhere far away, said rabbit-eared genius sneezed. "Aha! Chi-chan must be talking about me~!"

* * *

><p>"No way... The both of you were only in your factory settings? You've only gotten to first shift now?" Cecilia asked, completely shock that these 2 almost beat her while their IS's were using the factory settings.<p>

"Even now, you continue to look after me..."

"Are you ignoring me?"

"Now, I'll be the one to protect you! I'll start by protecting your name and honour!" Ichika rushed forward, straight towards Cecilia.

"First shift or not, I'll still beat you!"

Cecilia realized how her initial strategy wasn't working, and now commanded her bits to shoot while moving, forcing Ichika to go out of his way if he wanted to get rid of them.

It didn't really help that much. With Ichika's first shift, Byakushiki was faster and more agile than before, allowing him to dodge the lasers while rushing towards the representative candidate.

He got right in front of her. It seemed like her bits wouldn't fire anymore, as they could hit the pilot. "It's over!" He yelled as he swung Yukihira down.

"Pilot Ichika Orimura has been eliminated. Please leave the field."

"Eh?"

"Ah?"

Both Ichika and Cecilia were confused. He was eliminated already? He didn't even do anything! He looked around Byakushiki's HUD, and saw that he had no shield points remaining. How did that happen?

"Orimura! Get off the field! So you need me to come out there and fetch you myself!?" Chifuyu's voice boomed out of the speakers. He had best listen, unless he wanted to die via textbook.

As Ichika flew off, Cecilia looked towards her final opponent. He was on the ground, staring at her. His armour had also changed from what was once a coat to a 2 piece jacket with breastplate and pants.

The armour change was strange, but what she really focused on was the lack of twin blades. Instead, he had a strange tube and a modified FN five-seven pistol.

"When did you change outfits and weapons?"

"Who knows? Maybe I was always wearing this."

"Don't try to fool me. I saw you with those 2 swords before. Now you have a tube and a gun. I honestly believe you would've beaten me with the swords, but now your chances have decreased."

He jumped up, being propelled by the thrusters on his wings. "I guess we'll just have to find out!"

Cecilia just ordered her bits to fire at him. There was nothing for him to deflect the beams with, so he was definitely going to lose.

The bits fired, and to her surprise, he wasn't injured. The lasers were being deflected from the beam that was coming out of the tube! What was he, some sort of Jedi!?

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. If that didn't work, then just try harder. She could definitely beat him with her remaining bit- wait, why did she only have 1 left? Where did the second one go?

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground made her look down. There was her second last bit, smoking on the ground. What happened?

The sound of gunshots made her look up. Kazuto was charging at her, pistol in hand aiming at her final bit. He managed to chip it, but Cecilia paid no mind. She commanded it to circle around and fire.

She didn't expect it blow up. "What!? What did you do!"?

"I might or might not have shot the circuits in it, forcing it to overheat and explode." Kazuto replied as he rushed forward.

Cecilia threw her last weapon at him in panic, which was her rifle. He sliced it in half using the Kagemitsu G4.

"What was throwing that supposed to do?"

"I don't know!"

Kazuto has his sword over his shoulder, ready to take out Cecilia. She closed her eyes in preparation of the strike. It never came.

"I concede." He said, spinning the blade around before deactivating it and placing his weapons on his belt.

A very loud cry of disappointment came from the audience.

"What?" She asked in shock.

"Alcott-san. Ichika and I never wanted to be the class representative. I'm sure he doesn't the attention that comes from being 1 of the only 2 male pilots in the world. I think he just wants to live his life without being stalked every second of the day." He said, turning his head towards her. He then turned around and flew off into the hangers.

"Winner, Cecilia Alcott!" Funny thing though, she didn't feel like a winner.

* * *

><p>Both males were in the observation room, as they were called(read: ordered) to come there by Chifuyu Orimura.<p>

"Ichika, do you know why you lost?" She asked him.

"...Yukihira is a double edged sword, isn't it? It uses my shield points to keep itself running, and the more I use it, the more it drains over time."

She gave a nod at his insightful explanation. "Since you've got some experience with it, start working hard from now on. Train using your IS when you have the time, understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Now..." She turned her head towards Kazuto. "Why did you surrender?" Her voice was low. Her tone was dangerous. Kazuto knew he had to choose his words carefully. If he didn't, it would probably be painful and include an object filled with paper killing his brain cells.

"..As I originally said, I didn't want to be the class rep. Maybe I did it to help her, or maybe I just wanted to surrender so I didn't have to be the class rep."

Chifuyu stared at him for what seemed to be an eternity, but was really 20 seconds in reality. "Depending on your next answer, this book may or may not make contact with your skull." He gulped. "What were you trying to help her with?"

Kazuto took a moment before answering. "She's arrogant because she's never had a strong male figure in her life, it seems. That's why she looked down on Ichika and I. I just wanted to show her that she wasn't on top of the world, and that there were people that were strong when she considered them weak, and that she didn't have to continue her life alone."

"You're safe for now, Kirigaya."

Kazuto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. All that mattered was that he didn't have to be smack around by the textbook of death.

"Your IS's are both in standby mode at the moment." Maya said. "Orimura-kun's is the bracelet on his wrist and Kirigaya-kun's is the necklace he's wearing."

Both boys looked at their IS's. Ichika's wasn't really a bracelet. It was too long to be considered one. It looked more like a gauntlet, given how long it was in length. Kazuto's necklace was the shape of a teardrop with two swords crossing through it. It was rather large, being the size of a tennis ball. A rather flat tennis ball.

"Both of them are ready to deploy when you want them to. You'll need to study the handbook for personal IS users."

A couple of large thuds echoed out of the room as Ichika and Kazuto were each given a large black book. Honestly, a book was an understatement. 'Phone books' would be better terms for these monstrosities.

"Anyways, that's all for today. Have a nice evening!" Maya said as if she didn't completely obliterate the boy's free time.

* * *

><p>Both boys walked towards their room, carrying the thick IS manuals.<p>

"Ichika, do you know who made our IS's?" Kazuto asked as they walked down the corridor. They were trying to make their footsteps silent, careful to not alert any of the girls.

"I don't think the government made these. I believe it was someone specific that created these."

"'Someone specific' you say... That doesn't really help much."

"Kazuto-kun!"

"Ichika!"

Ichika looked back curiously wondering who called them. Kazuto however visibly cringed when he heard multiple footsteps coming from inside the rooms.

Houki and Hiyori were running towards them. That wasn't what made Kazuto cringe. It was the sound of doorknobs turning and doors opening.

"Run!" He yelled as he sprinted down the hall.

Ichika didn't understand why he yelled and just looked at his retreating figure. Hiyori ran past him while Houki stopped behind him.

"Ichika why-" she was interrupted by many of the girls coming out of their rooms and rushing towards the lone boy in the vicinity. Ichika now knew why Kazuto was running. These girl's night clothes were so revealing! A dense protagonist like himself wouldn't know how to react in a situation like this!

It also seemed like Houki was angry because she didn't get the chance to scold Ichika. It seems like she would have to scold him tomorrow morning.

"Kazuto-san help me..." The boy muttered quietly. Where was Kazuto when he needed to be saving from this suffering?

* * *

><p>Hiyori was currently in the boy's room doing nothing. How she got in was a mystery to Kazuto. He wasn't going to be a rude host however, so he invited her in. Kazuto was currently in the shower while Hiyori was 'inspecting' their room.<p>

Kazuto walked out of the washroom, wearing a black t-shirt and shorts. Hiyori was rolling around on his bed. They made eye contact.

"Ah, this isn't what it seems like." She said nervously.

"..Then what's really going on, Hiyori?"

"..."

"..."

"H-Hello Ichika-san!" She yelled as she pointed behind Kazuto.

"I'm not falling for that."

"Hello Hiyori-san. What are you doing in here?"

Kazuto turned around and indeed saw Ichika. He was, dishevelled to say the least. Hiyori was mentally wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"Hello Kazuto-san. Why did you leave me?" Ichika asked.

"In my defence I gave you a warning and a chance to escape with me."

"In your offence you didn't warn me about what exactly you were running from."

"Touché."

"Anyways, what are you doing here Hiyori-san?" Ichika asked. Kazuto looked back at Hiyori with an irritated gaze.

"I-I was just about to ask why Kazuto threw the duel." She stammered out. That Kazuto-gaze is strong. Very strong.

"Oh. Apparently he wanted to 'help' her. That, and he's far too lazy to be the Class Rep." Ichika supplied.

"Help her?"

"To show her men aren't as weak as she thinks, and that they can be relied on when needed."

"Oh."

Kazuto interrupted their conversation. "It's starting to get late. Hiyori you should return to your room before Orimura-sensei comes around with that ungodly textbook."

Ichika acknowledged this and also ushered her out of the room. "Please Hiyori-san. That book is evil. We do not want to experience it anymore today."

She giggled before leaving the room.

"Well I'm going to go to sleep." Ichika said as he yawned. "Goodnight Kazuto-san."

"Alright. I'll be in the bathroom, making s call to a few people. Goodnight Ichika."

* * *

><p>During SHR the next day, everyone was anxiously waiting for the Class Rep results, even though they already knew who it was.<p>

"So our new Class Rep is Cecilia Alcott-san."

Most of the class cheered, though less enthusiastic than they would if it were to be either of the boys.

Said Class Rep stood up from her desk. "I'd like to withdraw from the competition and give my position to Kazuto-san. I'm sorry for not choosing you, Ichika-san."

Ichika waved off her apology. "It's fine. Don't worry."

Kazuto looked at her. Since when did she start using his first name? Wait, that doesn't even matter. He stood up faster than Cecilia did. "Yamada-sensei! I too would like to withdraw! I'm giving the position to Ichika!"

Ichika had a look of shock on his face. The only other boy on the school, his dear classmate, was making him be the Class Rep! That was basically putting all the responsibility on him! "I would also like to withdraw from-"

Wham!

"You can't do that, Idiot. Alcott withdrew so it was just you and Kirigaya. Then he withdrew so then it was only you. If you withdraw, who's left?" Chifuyu was there, holding the feared textbook and glaring at her younger brother.

Ichika with his head on his desk could only wallow in despair. "It's not fair..."

Chifuyu just scoffed. "Deal with it."

Cecelia then asked them both a question, in a cute manner. "If you 2 would like, I could help you with IS training-"

Bam!

The sound of hands slapping a desk could be heard in opposite sides of the room.

"There's no need for that!"

"I'm already training Ichika! He asked- no begged me to help him."

Hiyori and Houki yelled respectively at a certain British girl.

Ichika muttered in a low tone that only he could hear. "Begged? I remember asking for help, but not begging."

"Oh? But wouldn't I be the better instructor, IS grade C, Shinonono Houki-san? I am a candidate representative student and a grade A IS student. And aren't you only a D, Kashiwazaka Hiyori-san?"

Pew pew! Double headshot!

Meanwhile, Ichika and Kazuto were wondering about the girl's scores. Houki and Hiyori were only C and D grades? Ichika was a B and Kazuto was almost an A...

"Grades don't matter!" Both girls yelled at the same time."

"Gah!"

"Ah!"

"Kyaa!"

The 3 arguing girls were all hit with Chifuyu's textbook, and given a stern sit-down-or-I'll-do-it-again glare. The girls immediately sat down, now understanding why Ichika and Kazuto feared that textbook. Chifuyu turned to the rest of the class. "Everybody get outside! It's time for you to get some practice! Orimura, Kirigaya, the 2 of you will go to the locker rooms to change. The girls will change in here."

Both boys nodded as they packed up their belongings and began their walk to the locker rooms. Once they got there, they immediately changed into their training outfits. Ichika had a blue 2 piece outfit that consisted of a tight shirt that covered only his chest and his biceps. He also had a pair of shorts that covered up to his thighs. Basically, a really short t-shirt and shorts.

Kazuto was wearing a black outfit, much to his irritation. "This is like mixing tight spandex and unreasonably small clothes. At least use some more comfortable fabric..."

"Kazuto-san, stop complaining. We need to get outside quickly." Ichika started sprinting out into the arena, making Kazuto wonder why he was running.

"Ah! No!" Immediately, he started running after he realized it. Ichika was already outside, so there was a good chance that Kazuto could make it too. As he ran out into the arena and joined his class-

Wham!

"Guh!"

"You're late. I don't accept tardiness." Textbook-of-doom teacher said.

Still clutching onto his head, Kazuto managed to ask through all the pain, "How late was I?"

Chifuyu looked at the crouching form of Kazuto. "2 seconds."

Just 2 seconds!? She hit him for being 2 seconds late? What sort of teacher does this!?

"You're thinking of something rude aren't you?"

"Absolutely not, ma'am!"

Chifuyu turned to the rest of the class, allowing Kazuto to keep his brain cells alive. "First, I'll have all the personal IS owners show you the basics. This will include flying and weapon deployment." She gave a moment for the personal IS owners to deploy. None of them did.

"Hurry up and get going!"

Cecelia immediately deployed hers and flew. The boys did too, after getting a stern glance from Chifuyu.

"What are you both doing? Both Byakushiki and Kuroshiki should have a higher power output!"

"We've barely had any IS training when it comes to flying..." Ichika muttered. It was true, during the time that he practiced with Houki, they used the standard school model, which couldn't fly. During the duel with Cecilia, both boys were able to fly thanks to the adrenaline rush. Now however, it was hard, as flying was more unnatural to him. He looked over to Kazuto, hoping to see how well his friend was doing in this difficult activity and-

He was flying as if it was second nature.

Ichika immediately opened up a communication window with him. "Kazuto-san! How are you flying so well on your second try? What's more, you've only had 20 minutes of training, excluding the duel from yesterday..."

Cecilia also opened up a communication window. "Kazuto-san, how are you so good at this?" It ended up as a 3-way call through their IS's.

Kazuto just looked back at him. "Well, back in ALO, I practiced flying. It's very similar to flying an IS, it seems. In that game, I've had well over 20 hours to practice flying, and how to not crash face first into buildings."

Ichika looked interested in ALO. Maybe he should buy an amusphere so he could play during the weekends and improve his flight control. "Does the school allow students to use amuspheres?"

"Most likely not. It would be bad if students only played and barely studied." Kazuto replied.

"Ichika-san, is that demon not giving you the proper training? If you want, I could train you instead... We could be... All alone..." It seemed Cecilia allowed her imagination to run wild.

"ICHIKA! HURRY UP AND GET DOWN!" Came Houki's angry shout. Upon closer inspection using the IS's sensors, it seemed like Houki grabbed the communicator from Maya and was currently yelling in it. "If you need an explanation, it's like a 'mm' feeling, with a 'whoosh' action, and a bit of 'fwoosh' here and there."

Looking at Ichika's facial expression, it seemed like her explanation wasn't very successful. It may have confused him even more.

"Alcott, Kirigaya, Orimura. Do a sudden dive and then come to a complete stop. Your goal is 10 cm off the ground." Chifuyu ordered.

"I-I'll be going first then." Cecilia told the 2 boys. As expected of a representative candidate, she performed the order perfectly.

Kazuto was next and he also completed Chifuyu's order, only stopping above the ground at 1 foot. "Seems like it's not exactly the same as ALO..."

Ichika was last, and he rushed towards the ground. As soon as he thought it was right, he decided to pull up. Although, pulling up was flying straight into the ground. "Whaaaaa-!"

As the dust cloud clearer, once could see an Ichika Orimura sitting down in the crater that he created. Dishevelled, but still perfectly fine.

"Ichika, didn't you learn anything from my explanation?" Houki asked, with her hand on her hip while she leaned forward. She also had a finger pointing at him with the other hand.

"I'm sorry but 'mm', 'whoosh', and 'fwoosh' didn't help me at all. I'm not even sure what those sounds are supposed to be."

Houki immediately had a red face. Not through embarrassment, absolutely not, but from anger. "Are you mocking me!?"

He was about to reply when Cecilia came in. "Ichika-san, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Houki cut her off. "Of course he's fine. The IS would never allow harm to come to its pilot."

Cecilia replied back, smiling. "Oho? Isn't it normal for someone to worry about another? Even if they have an IS?"

"You're one to talk, you wolf in sheep's clothing."

"That's better than dressing like a demon."

Everyone could practically see the sparks flying in between the girls. Ichika whispered to Kazuto through his IS. "Are you seeing these sparks? I think something's working with my IS."

Kazuto gave out a light sigh. "Don't worry about your IS, these sparks are most definitely real."

"Hey you idiots, if you want to fight, go do it elsewhere!" Chifuyu scolded them as she pushed them apart. "Orimura, Kirigaya, deploy your weapons."

At her order, Ichika reached his hand out. A ball of light materialized in his hand and then extended, leaving Ichika with a Yukihira Nigata, in its deactivated form, in his hand. He was holding an upgraded version of the sword that was once used by his elder sister.

Kazuto had 2 sheaths appear on his back, and he pulled both blades out. One was an obsidian black long sword, a strange hilt and guard. The other sword was a turquoise blade, crafted with extreme detail. As he pulled both swords out completely, both sheaths on his back disappeared. In his right, the Elucidator, a sword dropped by a monster with 3 heads and 6 arms. In his left, the Dark Repulser, a sword that was made for him through the sweat and determination of a dear friend.

"Interesting weapons, Kirigaya. I remember you using a pistol and lightsaber in the duel however." At Chifuyu's analytical gaze, Kazuto somewhat backed away. Hiyori even reacted somewhat at her tone.

"Ah, it seems like I can swap weapons and armor, only once during deployment though."

"Interesting..." Chifuyu's gaze was strong. It was then turned to an annoyed look directed at her brother. "Ichika! You were too slow. Try to get faster by at least 0.5 seconds!"

"...Yes, Orimura-sensei."

She then turned her attention to the blonde. "Alcott, deploy your weapons."

Cecilia materializes her rifle, in one of the most flashy way possible. Despite that, it was at least twice as fast as Ichika's. "As expected, you're very fast, but change your pose. Who're you trying to shoot when you aim your gun to the side like that?"

"Eh... But I need to maintain my image as a n-"

Chifuyu was holding the textbook up. "Change it. Do you understand me?"

Cecilia reluctantly nodded.

"Good. Now materialize your close ranged weapon."

Cecilia allowed her rifle to disperse into light particles. She then held her arm out in front of her. Nothing was really happening though.

"...Is there a problem Alcott?"

"I'm almost ready- ahh screw it! Interceptor!" At Cecilia's yell, a short knife materialized in her hand.

"How long did it take you to do that? In a real match, your opponent wouldn't give you any time to get ready."

"In a real match I wouldn't let them get close."

Chifuyu raised an eyebrow at the girl. Then, she pointed at the 2 boys. "So... What about them?"

"That's...um..." She looked really uncomfortable at the moment. Extremely uncomfortable. "It's because they came rushing at me..."

Somehow, Chifuyu's eyebrow was getting higher.

"It's their fault! Take responsibility!" She shouted.

Ichika tilted his head. "How am I supposed to take responsibility for that...?"

Kazuto just face palmed. "If you say it like that, people are going to misunderstand."

Chifuyu had a smirk on her face. Oh it was totally there, it was a small smirk, but a smirk is a smirk. "Boys, clear the field."

They both have a nod and began.

* * *

><p>During the evening, many students were having a party. It was for Ichika becoming the class rep. They even had a banner.<p>

"Kazuto-san, I blame you." He muttered out.

"Why, I don't know what you're talking about." Kazuto said back, feigning innocence.

"Congratulations Orimura-kun, for becoming class rep!" The girls said together.

Houki was to Ichika's side, looking annoyed. "You really are a popular guy, aren't you?"

"Eh, Houki are you mad?"

"No." Immediately after he reply, she turned around and 'hmphed'.

"With that tone of voice... I somewhat doubt your answer."

"Orimura-kun! I'm Mayuzumi Kaoruko, and I'm the Vice President of the school newspaper club. Can I get your opinions on being the class rep?" She then placed a microphone in his face.

Ichika just looked down at this thing. What was he supposed to say? 'I was never really supposed to get it; Kazuto-san was too lazy and decided to give it to me?' No! That was a terrible idea! "I'm...not much of a talkative person."

"That's unfortunate. How about Kirigaya-kun?" Again, the microphone was jammed into someone's face.

"Ah, I don't really have anything interesting to say." What else was he supposed to say? 'I was far too lazy so I gave it to Ichika?' That was a terrible idea!

The microphone finally went to Cecilia. "Alcott-san, surely you have something to say?"

Cecilia was the only one not trying to avoid the attention. "I gave it to Kazuto-san, but he just gave it to Ichika-san. I think it was because he was 'too lazy to be doing that kind of thing'." Both Ichika and Kazuto face palmed. That was exactly what they didn't want everyone to hear!

The reporter just looked uninterested. Oh well, she could just make something up anyways. "Let's take a photo of the 3 Candidates. Orimura-kun, please be in the middle."

They all lined up, Kazuto at the right and Cecilia at the left. Kaoruko asked out, "Whats 35 times 51 divided by 24?"

"Uh, 2?" Was Ichika's quick reply.

"73-ish?" Kazuto replied.

"Kirigaya-kun was closer!" With that, she took the picture.

It seemed like almost everyone was included. There were even some people squeezed up against each other so they could fit. Murmurs of "we can't let you one up us!" and "we'll fight too!" could be heard.

The 'Ichika Orimura Class Representative party' lasted until 10 that night.

* * *

><p>4 people were walking towards their rooms. These people would be Ichika, Kazuto, Hiyori and Houki.<p>

"Today must have been fun for you, Ichika. Good for you." Houki grumbled.

Ichika looked at her in a strange manner. "Why do you sound so upset Houki?"

"Houki-chan's just jealous~~"

Houki immediately turned red, but not from embarrassment, mind you. "I-I was not!"

Kazuto just looked at Hiyori. "Since when did you tease people so much?"

She put a finger on her cheek in an 'I'm-playing-dumb-right-now-but-please-believe-me-because-I'm-cute' look. "Why, Kazuto-kun, I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just describing how Houki was at the moment!"

"I was not jealous!" She fumed again.

Kazuto sighed. "I'm not even gonna try to stop. I know from experience that if you try to stop someone they target you instead." The girls back home were a prime example of this.

Ichika who was quiet for most of the conversation decided to change the subject. It looked like Houki was exchanging glances between him and Hiyori. "Did you guys know there's supposed to be 2 new students tomorrow? Apparently one is coming to our class."

The other 3 looked towards him. "Where did you find out about this?"

"When you're the little brother of the Brunhilde, and one of the only boys that can pilot the IS, people tend to keep you informed."

Kazuto looked rather skeptical. If being one of the only boys was a reason, why wasn't he informed? Unless...

"You overheard that information right?"

"Ah, I might have overheard Chifuyu-nee and Yamada-sensei talking about it. Apparently one is Chinese and one is Japanese like us."

Hiyori perked up. "Any more information?"

Ichika shook his head. Hiyori shrugged her shoulders. Well, she would find out about one of them tomorrow.

"I think it's time Houki-chan and I went to our room. She's seething with anger and jealousy~ eek!" Hiyori was able to dodge an attack from an angered Shinonono. "Missed me~"

"Hiyori!" Houki was chasing down a fleeing Hiyori down the hall. It seemed like those girls were causing havoc.

The boys were just returning to their own room. "She sure is troublesome. She even made Houki angry." Ichika said as he walked into the bathroom.

'Angry, no. Flustered, yes.' Of course, Kazuto didnt voice that. "It's probably her way of coping with things. Every one of us has to find that one way to get back to reality. If she wasn't like that, she'd probably be somewhat like how she was before."

"How have you coped with things?" Ichika asked while changing.

"Having close friends around. If I didn't have them, I probably would've always been on guard, unable to calm down." Kazuto was changing in the room.

"...I see. You seem pretty calm discussing these things." Ichika said as he walked out of the washroom, in a undershirt and shorts.

"Maybe because I've accepted it. Granted, I won't tell everyone I meet, but I felt like explaining it to you and Houki since you're my friends."

"I see." An awkward silence made it into the room. "Anyways, we should go to bed. We should be on our best behaviour for the new student."

Kazuto had a sly grin on his face as he laid down on his bed. "You mean you should be on your best behaviour, isn't that right, class representative?"

"I hate you, Kazuto-san."

"I can't hear you, I'm sleeping."

"You're not fooling anyone."

"Zzzzzzzzz..." It even sounded like a genuine snore.

"...Are you actually sleeping?"

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzz..."

"Well, goodnight then." Ichika soon fell asleep afterwards.

Kazuto was still awake, a deadpan look on his face. 'You're not fooling anyone he says.'

* * *

><p>The morning after, before SHR, many of the students were conversing with each other about the new transfer student in class 2 and the other student coming to their class.<p>

Ichika was in his desk, making conversation between Cecilia and Houki. Kazuto was in his desk playing with his phone.

"I heard the transfer student was from China!"

"I heard our new student won some sort of tournament!"

"What kind?"

"I think it was a virtual one."

Cecilia stopped her conversation/argument with Houki and turned to the girls discussing the new Chinese girl. "I heard the Chinese girl is supposed to be the Representative Candidate. Maybe she transferred here to witness my skills. Hohoho~"

Ichika joined in their conversation. "What kind of person is she?"

"Ichika, you're really asking that question when the target is a foreigner that you've probably never met before?" It seemed Houki joined in too.

"Well, yeah."

"Orimura-kun, you don't have time to worry about that! The class representative tournament is next month! You need to train!" A random girl said. Indeed, the tournament was to show which class was stronger than the others.

"Yeah! Make us proud and win the prize!"

"What prize?"

"Free meal tickets!" At that, Ichika almost fell out his desk. Even Kazuto, who was trying his best not to eavesdrop, had some reaction to the meal tickets.

Cecilia patted him on the back. "Don't worry Ichika-san, for Kazuto-san and I will train you!" Kazuto sat up in his desk. Training? When did he agree to this? "For we have personal IS's. Once you're used to using Byakushiki, the tournament should be easy, after all, only class 1 and 4 have personal IS's."

"Your information is outdated!"

Everyone looked towards source of the voice. She was a short girl with green eyes and brown hair in a twin-tail style.

"The representative for class 1-2 had a personal IS too! And she's here to declare war!"

"Is that you, Rin?" It looks like Ichika recognized her.

"Yup! And I'm here as China's representative."

"You haven't changed, that cool act of yours never works."

"Guh! Why did you have to say that Ichika!?" Right now, she was flustered and glaring at Ichika. Count on him to destroy a serious atmosphere.

Wham!

"Gah!"

Rin was hit by a certain textbook both boys feared.

"WHO DO YOU THink you...ah." Her shout went from angered to scared due to her realizing who hit her. "Hello Chifuyu-san."

Wham!

"It's Orimura-sensei to you. Remember it or die. It's time for SHR, go back to your class."

"Ah, sorry." She turned back to Ichika. "Don't run away!"

Both boys felt some déjà vu from that, but their main thought was, 'If he/I does/do run, where can he/I go?'

"Hurry up!"

"Yes ma'am!"

She scurried off away from the demon teacher.

Cecilia and Houki immediately voiced their complaints.

"Ichika-san, who was that person?"

"Ichika, what's your relationship with her?"

Ichika was about to answer, but immediately shit his mouth when a black blur came into his vision.

Wham! Bam!

Both girls were hit with the textbook. He was glad he didn't say anything after that.

"Get back to your seats!"

Wham!

"Why was I hit too!?"

"Shut up. You're always causing trouble." She glared at Ichika, then at Kazuto, daring him to say something about brain cells. "Class! We've got a new student. Come in and introduce yourself."

An average sized girl walked in the room. Her hair was a dark brown with 2 side bangs. She wore glasses and had brown eyes.

Kazuto's eyes widened. 'What was she doing here!? I thought she was studying back home!'

"Hello, my name is Asada Shino, I enjoy playing VR games. I hope to have an excellent year with everyone. It's been a while, Kazuto."

"...It's only been a week, give or take a couple of days, Shino."

Many girls in the class screamed of "unfairness" and "possible girlfriend ruining their chances" at their familiar tones with each other. The boys were uncertain, but they believed the entire school could hear them.

"Shut up!" They did. It seemed like Chifuyu's authority could command everyone. "Asada, please take that seat in the back." Shino went to take a seat in the back of the room, which was across the room from where Kazuto was sitting.

"We will now begin the lesson!"

* * *

><p>"Mumble, grumble..." Houki was in her desk, making incoherent sounds as she was thinking about a certain brown haired girl.<p>

"-nono."

"Mumble..."

"Shinonono! What is the answer!?"

She immediately straightened up and saw a Chifuyu glaring at her. This couldn't be good.

"Ah, what was the question?" Maybe if she smiled she could get away without being whacked over the head?

Wham!

Guess not.

* * *

><p>Cecilia was doodling in her notebook. There seemed to be images of wedding dresses and cakes and... was that last one supposed to be the Chinese representative student? Why were her limbs bent that way?<p>

"Alcott."

She continued to draw, this time with a familiar looking young man in a tuxedo.

"Alcott!" She immediately dropped her pen and looked towards the voice, which was right behind her. The voiced asked her a question, in a tone she really didn't like. "What are you doing?"

"...notes?"

Wham!

What an unfortunate day for the girls in Ichika's harem.

* * *

><p>As the lunch bell rang, Kazuto rushed out of the room, not before grabbing a certain new student's hand. Hiyori snuck out of the classroom, intending on stalk- following him.<p>

"That was your fault!"

"It's all thanks to you!"

Houki and Cecilia we're currently yelling at Ichika, who didn't understand why. During the morning, they were warned by Maya multiple times to pay attention. When they didn't acknowledge the warnings, they were hit with a textbook. Multiple times. Blanking out in front of Chifuyu was like sticking meat on yourself and then walking into a lions den, all while screaming "Free food! Come and get it!"

"But I didn't even do anything." It's true! Partially.

"If you've got anything you want to say, let's go to the cafeteria than." At Ichika's suggestions both girls visibly brightened.

They went to the cafeteria together, along with the rest of the girls in the class. Ichika and Houki got Japanese food, while Cecilia got a western dish.

Pang!

"Gah!"

"Ichika!"

"Ichika-san!"

Ichika was hit by a spoon, a flying spoon. Both of the girls accompanying him called out to him.

"Man that hurt. Who just throws a spoon like that?"

"I've been waiting for you! What took so long?" It seemed Rin threw the spoon. She picked up another, it seemed like she was holding a bowl of...ramen. Yes, ramen.

"Your noodles will get soggy and lose their spring."

"If they do, it's your fault."

"Again, something that was not my fault."

Rin adopted a confused expression on her face. "Again?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go sit down and eat. You coming Houki, Cecilia?" Both girls were mumbling and grumbling, but they both followed him.

* * *

><p>On the school rooftop, 2 people were standing together. One was a girl with short town hair, and another was a boy with black hair the same length.<p>

"Shino, how'd you get into this school? I thought you were back at home." He asked her.

"Asuna helped get me in. She's got some crazy connections." Shino replied. Indeed, Asuna had connections. Being the daughter of the CEO of RECTO process had its perks after all.

"Speaking of Asuna, she's coming here too, isn't she?"

"Mhm. I think she's transferring here in the next few days. Everyone's been deciding on things. Agil might start a cafe around here. Klein, well, he's being Klein. I think Liz is coming too. I'm unsure of Sugu and Silica."

"I don't think they'll be able to get in just yet. Maybe next year."

She pulled him into a hug. "We've all missed you. Especially Yui. She missed her father, you know."

He returned he gesture. "I know. I plan on visiting on the weekend. And Yui might be able to come along with me now."

"Wait what? What do you mean?"

"You'll find out."

A silence came over them. It was a rather comfortable silence. "Oi Hiyori, stop hiding."

She was hiding inside the doorway, and came out nervously as she was caught. "Ahaha, hello Kazuto-kun..."

Shino raised an eyebrow. "Who's she?"

"Hello! I'm Kashiwazaka Hiyori, but you can call me Lux. Nice to meet you Sinon-chan!"

"How does she know my name?" She turned to Kazuto with a small glare.

"Well, I kind of told her about my adventures in GGO."

She took a good look at Kazuto. He didn't like that look, it promised pain and embarrassment. "I'll get you later. It's nice to meet you Hiyori-san." She turned back to Kazuto. "So she called you 'Kazuto-kun'. Are you already adding girls to that harem of yours?"

Kazuto sighed while Hiyori blushed. "Say what you want Shino. It's not like I've got one through my own free will, isn't that right?"

She couldn't really answer that. Indeed, it was Asuna and the rest of the girls that 'suggested' him to have a harem, as they all knew of each other's feelings towards him.

"You actually have one? And they know about each other? Kazuto-kun, eroge protagonist!" Hiyori teased them both, and her smile widened with their flushed faces.

"A-ah. Don't say things like that, Hiyori." He replied. He didn't want the entire school know about this. Well, given the circumstances in the next few days, he was pretty sure everyone was going to know about it. "Anyways, let's go to the cafeteria. We might still be able to get some food."

"Once Asuna gets here, you won't need to worry about that. We could cook for you." Shino said from behind him.

Kazuto had a silly smile on his face, drool escaping through the side. He couldn't wait for the food that his friends cooked. In his mind, that always beats food from anywhere else.

As they arrived in the cafeteria, they were greeted with a rather large group of people sitting at a single table, with everyone else eavesdropping around them. Oh course, after he saw Ichika, he dismissed it as normal. He went up to the table and greeted him.

"Kazuto-san, help me."

He was about to say something, but the conversation between Cecilia, Houki and Rin was more interesting.

"What's your relationship with Ichika?" Houki asked.

"Are you dating him?" Cecilia added.

"N-no, I'm not dating him. I'm his childhood friend." Rin replied.

Cecilia relaxed, but Houki was still focused. "But I'm his childhood friend too..."

Their glares were immediately directed on him.

"Ichika."

"Explain this."

Houki and Rin ordered him respectively. At some point, Kazuto and company had left, so there was no way he could change the subject.

"Well, I met Houki first and when she moved away back in the 4th grade, I met Rin in the 5th, but she moved back to China during the 6th." Thinking back on it, there was no way they could've known each other. He thought it was best if he introduced them to each other. "Rin, This is Houki Shinonono, we used to do Kendo together." He turned to Houki. "Houki, this is Lingyin Huang, her family used to help me out when Chifuyu-nee was away."

Both girls looked at each other, sizing the other up, thinking of which was a bigger threat.

"Nice to meet you, Lingyin-san."

"Likewise, but call me Rin, Houki-san. It's nice to meet one of Ichika's oldest friends."

The sparks going in between them were real. It seemed like someone would get shocked if they got too close.

"Have you forgotten about me, Representative from China?" It seemed like Cecilia didn't want to be left out of this battle.

"No I have- wait who're you?"

A sound of glass shattering could be heard, but nobody knew where it came from.

"I'm the representative from England! How could you forget about me, no, how could you not even know of me!?"

In response from Cecilia's furious anger, Rin just waved her hand. "Ah sorry, I'm not interested."

Cecilia's mouth became that of a fish's. She was even muttering some incomprehensible things... She then regained her composure after s few seconds. "Are you challenging me!?" Cecilia's hands were clenched in a fist. Houki actually put down her chopsticks. Rin, well, she was still eating her ramen like nothing was happening.

"Oh yeah! Ichika, you're class 1's rep right?" She asked, putting her bowl of ramen down.

Ichika gave out a tired sigh. "Somehow, that was the final result."

"Interesting." She then picked up her bowl, and slurped down the rest of the soup. No spoon, nothing.

'That's unbecoming of a lady...' Was the collective thoughts of some people. Kazuto and company included.

"Oh yeah! If you need IS help you could always ask me." She was finished her soup already, that was rather quick.

"Sure! I that would be gr-"

Smack! The sound of 2 pairs of hands slapping a table could be heard.

"There's no need for that! We're already helping him!"

"That's right! We don't need help from you, you're in class 2! You're basically an enemy!"

It seemed both girls could agree on something. Rin just waved them off. "People who aren't involved, please go away. I'm having a nice conversation with Ichika here."

"Who says I'm not involved? Ichika practically begged me to train him." Funny, Ichika didn't remember begging anyone to train him. Just asking. "So since he's from class 1, he should be taught by people from class 1. What are you doing, popping out of nowhere and trying to help him?"

"What do you mean!? I've known Ichika for a long time! Isn't it normal that I would want to catch up with him? I've known him for years!"

"Don't even go there! I've known him way longer than you have! He even went to my house to eat!"

"He's eaten at my house a lot too!"

Houki was taken aback at that. "Ichika what is she talking about? I've never heard anything about this."

Cecilia piped in too, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. "You never mention it to me either! I demand an explanation!"

Everyone was looking towards the scene like a soap opera. Hiyori even had popcorn. How she got it, nobody knew.

"Hiyori! Don't record this!" Came a shushed whisper from Kazuto.

"Shh! It's going to get good!" Came her reply.

Kazuto turned towards Shino. "A little help please?" She just shrugged her shoulders. It seemed like Hiyori was getting her way. They all turned back to Ichika's problem.

"What am I supposed to say? Her family owned a restaurant so I went there to eat once in a while."

Houki and Cecilia visibly relaxed at that. Even the rest of the girls from class 1 relaxed. What was with that?

"Oh yeah, how's your dad doing Rin?"

"Things are fine." She suddenly got depressed. Ichika didn't try to force the subject. "We should catch up somewhere! Maybe the restaurant in front of the train station?"

"Ah, that closed down last year." Rin deflated at his reply, but then perked up. "How about one that's near the school? You must have a lot of things to tell me right?"

Ichika considered it. Did he have anything interesting to say? Other than being one of the only known male IS pilots, no. He basically did school work and stuff, not really much to talk about there.

"Sorry, but Ichika's having an intense training session with me! He won't be available." Houki seemed resolute. Ichika just wondered if he agreed on this or not. When had they decided on an intense training session?

"That's right! I'll be helping too! It's only natural since I have a personal IS." When did Cecilia agree on training him?

What that doesn't matter- is this going to be a daily thing!? He didn't want to train every day! Well maybe he should be grateful, they were going out of their way to train him after all.

"Well then, I'll come by after you're done training with _them_. Remember to leave some time for me, okay? Bye bye, Ichika!"

As she left, Ichika waved goodbye. He turned around to see Houki and Cecilia glaring at him. The glares were really scary.

"Ichika, we're training really hard later today."

"Ichika-san, don't be late."

The boy nodded quickly. He then stood up and looked around for the only other boy there. "Kazuto-san! You're coming along too!"

Kazuto looked towards him. "Why?"

"Even though you're not participating, you need the practice too!"

"Eh, fine."

If Ichika was going to go down, he wasn't going solo.

* * *

><p>"Mumble, Grumble..." Ichika was lying flat on his back, taking deep breaths as he complained about the unfairness of the past few hours.<p>

When he got to the arena, he expected a free for all between 3 people, Cecilia, Kazuto and himself. What he didn't expect was for Houki to join using the standard Uchigane model the school had. What he really didn't expect was for it to be a 2v1v1 consisting of Cecilia and Houki being on a team, Kazuto and himself.

He ended up being the first one to lose since it became a 3v1. That was an unreasonably hard fight. Kazuto also lost, as he was forced to fight 2v1 after they all ganged up on Ichika. Wasn't this supposed to be his training session? If so, then why was he taken out before he could get any real training done!?

"Murgle, grumble."

Kazuto had already left with Shino and Hiyori. Cecilia and Houki also left, through separate doors for some reason. He slowly got up, walking tiredly towards the locker room.

As he got in, he literally fell into the benches. Would it be alright to take a nap here? Maybe he'd take a quick nap and then return later.

"Yo! Ichika!" Maybe that nap could wait until later.

"Hello, Rin" he greeted through huffs and puffs.

"Wow, you look beat. Here's a towel. You're alright with sports drinks right?" She's a lifesaver. It was even warm too. As Ichika gulped down the drink, Rin was leaning on the lockers trying to look cool. "You're so weird, caring about your health at such a young age."

"It's a good habit to start early." It seemed like Ichika want so tired now.

"You sound like some old man."

"Hey! That's rude!" Definitely less tired now.

"You've probably been lonely without me, haven't you?"

"Well, of course I would be lonely if I lost a playmate."

"Idiot! That's not what I mean!"

"Anyways, I should probably get back to my room. Kazuto-san should be finished showering, so it's my turn."

"Oh the other boy? I guess it would make sense for you 2 to be sharing rooms. Can I come too? I want to see the personality of the other guy." Rin asked.

"To the bath or to my room?" Was his reply.

After turning red and sputtering nonsense, Rin managed to get out, "To your room of course! What sort of illicit fantasies are you imagining!?"

Ichika just tilted his head in confusion. What was with her sudden change in attitude? "It was just a question..."

* * *

><p>When they arrived at his room, they heard voices inside. There were 2 female voices and a male voice. Rin's imagination immediately took over while Ichika's was as normal as ever.<p>

He opened the door, ignoring Rin's protests.

"Hello Kazuto-san."

"Hello Ichika."

Ichika saw Kazuto and the girls sitting on his bed, talking into his phone. Rin visibly relaxed. It seemed like they were on video call with someone.

"Did you already shower? If so, I'm going to take mine now."

"Go ahead."

Ichika went into the shower while Rin sat on his bed. "So you're the other boy that can pilot IS's."

Kazuto gave his phone to Shino and Hiyori who continued to converse with the person on the screen.

"Yes, I'm Kirigaya Kazuto, you're Lingyin Huang right?"

"Yup! Nice to meet you, Kirigaya-san."

"Likewise, but call me Kazuto." He figured he should introduce the other girls in the room. "This is Asada Shino, and she's Kashiwazaka Hiyori."

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you, Huang-san!"

"Please, call me Rin."

"Hello Rin-san, pilot of the Shenlong." A third voice came in, and Rin looked around the room. Who had that information? It didn't sound like any of the voices of the 3 people in the room either, it was far too young to even be in the academy…

"Yui, don't hack into the schools database like that."

"Sorry Papa!" He didn't really think she was sorry, which was further reinforced with the tone of voice she was using.

"Kazuto-san, who was that?" Rin's eyes were still looking around the room, still unsure of where the voice came from.

He pointed towards his phone. "I'm currently on a video call with my 'daughter', a highly intelligent AI with emotions." She showed her his phone, and a small girl with pixie wings was flying around. "Sorry, Rin-san."

"H-hello."

"Sorry about her, she seems to take Kazuto's protection to a high degree. She's hacked into many places where he's been, taking in information on almost everything." Shino apologized for both father and daughter.

Rin continued to look at the screen. "I see. And she's your daughter how?" It seems like she was still baffled by the smart AI thing.

"Well, I saved her from deletion, then transferred her to my computer, and then into a game that all of us play in."

Ichika walked out of the shower, in a white 2-shirt and grey sweats. He saw that Rin was staring at the screen intently. "Is that Yui-chan?"

Kazuto turned the screen towards him, and indeed, it was Yui, waving hello to him. "Hello Ichika-san."

"Hello Yui."

"Ichika this doesn't bother you?" Rin asked him.

"Not anymore. I've gotten used to it. The first time I was really confused though." He reassured her.

Yui gave a huff and crossed her arms. "What's so hard to understand? Papa is Papa, and Yui is his daughter!" If Kazuto could, he would've patted her head in an 'it's alright' manner, but sadly he couldn't.

"There there, don't worry about it Yui." At least Shino was making her feel better.

"Anyways, why are you here Rin-san? Shouldn't you go unpack your luggage into your room?" Hiyori was indeed curious why she was here. Did Ichika unknowingly get another girl into his harem?

"Well I'm here to talk about a promise I had with Ichika." Rin's small blush and finger-touch thing was actually pretty cute.

Hiyori seemed to have a '!' over her head, as she dragged both Kazuto and Shino out of the room. Kazuto managed to get a message out to Yui before being dragged outside. "I'll call you again soon! Tell Asuna and everyone else I said hi!"

"Bye bye!"

As the door was closed, by a Hiyori dragging a Kazuto and Shino, Rin decided to ask her question.

"Do you remember the promise we made as kids?" Her tone was very hopeful.

"Was it the one about your cooking?"

"Yeah! That one!" What do you know, he got it right.

"If Rin improved her cooking skill, she'll cook sweet-and-sour pork every day," Her eyes shone. He really did remember! "for me to eat, right?"

"What?" She deflated, like a balloon.

"Man, I'm surprised with myself. I really have a good memory!" Looks like he was rather proud with himself. Really proud.

Rin was shaking, her fists clenched at her sides. "Good memory... Can't figure out the real meaning... Dense idiot..."

"Hmm? You say something Rin?"

Smack!

A beautiful red mark appeared on his face, perfectly hand-shaped. "YOU'RE THE WORST! YOU CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER THE PROMISE YOU MADE TO A GIRL! YOU'RE A SHAME AMONGST MEN! GET BITTEN BY A DOG AND DIE!" After that, she literally kicked the door open and stormed out of the room. "Was that my fault?"

Kazuto immediately rushed in he room. "Ichika! You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think Rin's mad though." He said as he rubbed his face. Still, a beautiful hand mark.

'You think?' Hiyori walked in after seeing a furious Rin running out. "Ichika-san, you're really bad at raising flags."

"What's raising a flag have to do with anything?"

The density was high in this one.

* * *

><p>During lunch the next day, Kazuto, Ichika, Shino, Hiyori, Houki and Cecilia were talking about how they would train Ichika. It seemed like they would go from right after school until an hour before curfew.<p>

Sadists, all of them.

"We should probably have him..."

There was more!? Was he going to die doing these things!? Nobody noticed the girl walking to their group except for Ichika. He was about to say something, but she put her finger on her lip in a 'shhhhhh' manner. He did, and waited to see how things would turn out.

He didn't expect her to cover Kazuto's eyes from behind. Or give him a kiss on the cheek. "EHHHHHHHHH!?" He definitely didn't expect the rest of the girls in the class to scream loud enough to shatter glass. Both boys winced at the combined screams of most of the girls in the class.

Kazuto placed his hands on the hands that belonged to the person who blinded him. Who would be this bold as to kiss him during class? Sugu and Keiko were out of the question. Rika maybe? No, she wouldn't be transferring for a while. That left one option. "Asuna?"

"Hello, Kirito-kun."

Indeed, it was Asuna, clad in the typical IS uniform consisting of blazer and skirt. She looked the same as always, long chestnut hair that cascaded down her back and braids going to the back of her headand combining into a small bun.

"Hello Sinononononon."

"Asuna, you're really never going to let that go are you?" Shino gave up a sigh. Only casually would she get called that. Sometimes, it would be short, but sometimes, she would add enough on's to that name that she would be out of breath at the end of it.

"Nope!" Looks like Asuna was cheery as ever.

Asuna took a seat on Kazuto's desk. "Who're your friends, Kirito-kun?"

"This is Ichika, Houki, Cecilia and Hiyori. Ichika's one of the only boys able to pilot an IS, Houki here is a kendo champion, Cecilia is England's representative candidate, and Hiyori is one of 'us'."

Asuna understood what 'us' meant. "Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Yuuki Asuna."

They all greeted her normally, except for Cecilia who didn't know who she actually was. "Ah, Yuuki-san, how do you know Kazuto-san?"

"Oh, I'm one of his girlfriends."

It took a moment for that to settle in with everyone. Literally, everyone. All the other girls were eavesdropping intensely. "G-g-girlfriends!? As in plural!?"

Asuna gave a nod. She pointed to Shino. "Sinononon's one of his girlfriends too."

Said girl had a blush as she was singled out. "Hey Asu-" she was interrupted by a collective scream.

"EHHHHHHHHHHH!?"

Kazuto just face palmed. "Not the best development."

* * *

><p>Again, in a lab far, far away, the same woman with bunny ears was spying on a pair of boys. "Looks like Ka-kun's harem is arriving~! Should I make personal IS's for them too? Decisions, decisions. If they're interesting I will~!<p>

If they're boring then that's just too bad~!"

The genius, Shinonono Tabane, one of the most wanted people in the world, spun around in her chair like a 10-year old. Her mechanical ears even showed her delight.

"Weeeeeeeeeee!"

Truly, this person was a genius.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Hello, and thank you for reading. I originally thought I would make this as a sequel to my other story, but decided against it.

Anyways~

Byakushiki and Kuroshiki are introduced. After the duel, I thought of way too many scenarios where I could have Cecilia join Kazuto's harem, but forced her to remain in Ichika's. Seriously, there are way too many good opportunities. I can think of one with Laura too. I'm trying to keep pairings as cannon as possible however.

Rin's appearance came, as well as the beginning for the inter-class tournament. I'll probably find out some way to include Kazuto in the tournament. Somehow.

Shino and Asuna are also introduced in this chapter, which was extremely long. Being roughly 11.8k words before this author's note, it took me a rather long time to finish writing it. I still had to go and edit and revise this (which I put off for nearly a week). Next chapter will most likely be a time skip directly to the tournament.

Enjoy the chapter anyways. Please leave a review on your way out.

Fun Fact: This is the longest chapter I have ever written. It will probably hold that record for a long while too.


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